Detransitioner Kayla Lovdahl is suing Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and other doctors involved in her childhood sex change, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges clinicians provided Lovdahl with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and a double mastectomy by the age of 13. The Center for American Liberty, Dhillon Law Group, LiMandri & Jonna LLP are filing the lawsuit on behalf of Lovdhal. The lawsuit alleges Lovdahl suffered from a variety of mental health co-morbidities which were largely ignored by her doctors, who quickly placed her on a fast track to sex changes, according to the document.
“This case is about a team of doctors (i.e., the Defendants) who decided to perform a damaging, imitation sex change experiment on Kayla, then a twelve-year-old vulnerable girl struggling with complex mental health co-morbidities, who needed care, attention, and psychotherapy, not cross-sex hormones and mutilating surgery,” the lawsuit reads. (RELATED: ‘Inappropriate And Disrespectful’: Biden Admin Responds To Trans Influencer Who Danced Topless On White House Lawn)
Lovdahl detransitioned at the age of 17 and began psychotherapy sessions to deal with her mental health problems, according to the document.
“Defendants were horribly, and inexcusably wrong, as Kayla was not transgender and was not a person that any reasonable physician could ascertain would permanently maintain a transgender identity,” the lawsuit reads.
Despite the issuance of a Notice of Intent to Sue on March 15, 2023, the defendants failed to respond within the stipulated 90-day period, precipitating the subsequent lawsuit. https://t.co/dMsCmA5hm0
— Christina Buttons (@buttonslives) June 15, 2023
The lawsuit lists “three critical facts,” arguing the doctors who performed sex changes on Lovdahl “breached the standard of care” and “should not have recommended or performed transition ‘treatment’ on Kayla.”
First, the lawsuit argues cases of gender dysphoria generally resolve themselves at a high rate if children are not medically treated in adolescence. A 2013 study for Steensma found the majority of children examined (84.2%) desisted later in adolescence. A 2008 study found in followups that 88% of girls examined desisted after feelings of gender dysphoria and “did not report distress about their gender identity.” A 2021 study confirmed an average of 87.8% of gender-dysphoric boys examined grew comfortable with their biological sex in later years. Yet in cases where puberty suppressants are offered, patients are far more likely to go on to receive hormone therapies and surgeries, according to a 2022 study from the Netherlands.
Second, the lawsuit says youth with co-morbidities, like Kayla, are especially susceptible to “dissatisfaction and complications.” Most of these adolescents, the lawsuit alleges, would cease reporting feelings of gender incongruence if their mental health problems were treated with appropriate psychological therapies. (RELATED: ‘No Clue What My Chromosomes Are’: Lefty Politician Draws Hilarious Reaction From Colleague During Floor Debate)
The lawsuit also argues evidence for the mental health benefits of gender transition is severely lacking. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded a study, published in January 2023, that examined the impact of cross-sex hormones on transgender and “nonbinary” adolescents’ mental health. The researchers claimed to demonstrate that cross-sex treatments lead to better mental health outcomes in adolescent patients, despite multiple patient suicides and 11 patients (3.5%) developing suicidal ideation.
“Defendants obscured and concealed important information from the patient and her parents such as the following: the conflicting studies in this area; the significant evidence demonstrating poor mental health outcomes; the existence of only low to very low-quality studies purportedly supporting hormonal interventions and the absence of control groups in such studies; the significant likelihood that desired outcomes would not be attained; the significant possibility of desistence, detransition and regret; and the lack of accurate models for predicting desistence and detransition,” the suit alleges.
Now that she has detransitioned, Lovdahl, according to the lawsuit, suffers “deep physical and emotional wounds,” as well as body mutilation, fertility risks and the loss of key developmental milestones her peers experienced.
Lovdahl is the second detransitioner to sue Permanente Medical Group and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Detransitioner Chloe Cole filed a lawsuit against the organizations in February, alleging clinicians provided her puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and a double mastectomy between the ages of 13 and 17.
The Daily Caller interviewed detransitioners, including Chloe Cole, for its recent documentary “Damaged: The Transing Of America’s Kids.”